According to one account, philosophy began on May 28, 585 BCE, at 3:15 in the afternoon-the exact time when an ancient Greek thinker named Thales confirmed his theory of a solar eclipse. He had observed the movements of the heavens and noticed a regularity that allowed him to predict that darkness would cover the earth at midday.

According to one account, philosophy began on May 28, 585 BCE, at 3:15 in the afternoon-the exact time when an ancient Greek thinker named Thales confirmed his theory of a solar eclipse. He had observed the movements of the heavens and noticed a regularity that allowed him to predict that darkness would cover the earth at midday.